The Uuuhs and Aaarghs of my life

Posts tagged ‘hunger’

Boni* is a street boy whom I met a year ago.
I enjoyed a chat with him as we walked towards a nearby grocery market to buy some bananas for him and friends.
I remember him sharing that despite being a street boy, he will, “Never give up!”
The boys used to stay and nap under some trees along Ngong Road. The trees were their homes.
After an early meeting today at iHub Nairobi, I walked past the same trees that are now chopped, burnt to ashes, abandoned.
No longer tall and green.
No longer a home.
“Where is Boni?” I thought.
But the lonely air responded with heartbreaking silence.

As I watched an episode of extreme makeover home edition, I got inspired by what one man said.

He said that many of us look forward to an opportunity that somehow makes our existence here on earth worthwhile. Such opportunities require selflessness as we devote ourselves to helping other people.

Reflecting upon my country Kenya, I see the need of selfless acts of charity within every stretch of 100m within the city.

Homeless families sitting by the roadside. Men so broken with poverty to a point of madness. Children misguided with begging as the only way to look forward. And citizens walking past them as if the needy are invisible.

But somewhere deep inside me, there is hope. I look inside my home and it is clear that I have got something here and there that can make a big difference in someone’s life who needs it more.

And so enough with demanding that our government takes action. Enough with demanding that other people do something. Enough with looking at myself as ‘not enough’.

It just takes one person to notice that it is Not OK to have homeless people in our streets.
It is not ok to allow poverty to break our countrymen to a point of psychological suicide – depression.
It is not ok to let Kenyan children to live in the streets and grow up thinking their only hope is in begging for a living.
It is not ok for a fellow human being to sleep hungry.
It is not and will never be ok!

Whatever you’ve got available is enough to help in restoring the hope in others. There isn’t such a thing as the ‘right moment’ to help. Any time is the best time to help someone. It only takes being on the receiving end to see just how real this is.

So when you go about your day and walk in the streets, just know that you could be a blessing in disguise to someone who needs a helping hand so badly.